Students warned of dangers of pay-day loans

13 March 2012

As part of National Student Money Week (12 to 16 March) the LJMU Student Advice Team are warning students of the risks of taking out pay-day loans or other high cost credit.

The University is urging students who may be short of funds to take advantage of the free help and support available from the Student Advice Team rather than resorting to high-interest short-term credit in order to finance their studies.

Lynne Condell Student Funds Manager at LJMU and Chairperson of the National Association of Student Money Advisers (NASMA) says:

"There have been examples recently of pay-day loan companies specifically targeting students with information about high interest money lending options. For some students both legal and sometimes illegal money lending can seem like an easy route to additional funds. However, students taking this approach often realise too late that they are in serious financial trouble with no easy escape."

Debt charity Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS), which is supporting National Student Money Week, has previously warned young people of the dangers of responding to unsolicited text messages from loan and debt management companies. Delroy Corinaldi, CCCS director of external affairs says:

"Students should be extremely wary of any text message offering them credit out of the blue. If you’re short of cash before the end of term, a text offering you a short-term loan might seem like a tempting offer – but this kind of borrowing can quickly lead into a serious debt problem."

For details about the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, the UKs leading debt charity visit: www.cccs.co.uk